Life in Technicolour
by Glisseo
Summary: A bit of dancing makes Teddy see Victoire in a new light.


The summer holidays had begun and after a day or two at home with his grandmother, Teddy Lupin had, as usual, made straight for one of his favourite places in the world – Shell Cottage, which contained one of his favourite people in the world – Victoire Weasley.

Sitting on the rocky beach, the sun on his neck and sea sloshing around his feet, NEWTs and careers and duties seemed thousands of miles away. It had been a very long year, but now none of it mattered, none at all …

Teddy glanced over at Victoire, who was tilting her face up to the sun, her eyes closed. Her hair, a tumble of gold and ivory and copper, cascaded to the sand, threads of vibrant colour glimmering in the light.

"I'm going to get even more freckled," she commented with her eyes still closed.

"I dunno if that's possible," said Teddy, examining her face. It gave him a rather funny feeling in his stomach, especially when she cracked one bright blue eye open and wrinkled her nose.

"You're a pig."

In response, Teddy screwed up his face, concentrating hard; Victoire's shout of laughter a second later told him he had been successful.

"You look ridiculous," she gasped, through giggles. "A true pig … oh, freckles be damned!" she added, as the cloud that had been mildly obscuring the sun moved aside and a burst of bright light fell on her. She kicked off her sandals, leapt to her feet, and started to dance a dance that was quite obviously improvised on the spot.

"Who looks ridiculous now?" formed in Teddy's mind, but his voice would not co-operate, caught in his throat, transfixed as he was by Victoire's laugh as she twirled and leaped and flung her arms out, her face once more to the sun, her hair flying, the strands of gold flashing …

This was the Victoire he liked best, the carefree, happy, laughing and dancing, hair all over the place, barefoot … the Victoire he had, in the last few years, only ever caught occasional glimpses of, before she was replaced by a studious girl with neatly braided hair and immaculate robes, who cared about school marks and homework. That Victoire was nice, funny and clever, but she wasn't Teddy's Victoire, the one who laughed til she cried and flung herself into the sea without a second's thought and snorted pumpkin juice out of her nose. Sometimes, in the common room or the library, Teddy would see her, gazing out of the window, and he'd know that she was dreaming of the beach, the sea, the freedom … but then she would snap out of it, and she would be that … that faded version of herself. Yes, that was it – this, here in front of him, this was technicolour Victoire, vibrant, shining in the sun, louder and brighter and more _real_.

"Phew!" Victoire gasped, flopping down on the sand, her skin flushed. "I needed that."

She looked at him with those eyes, ultramarine shot through with turquoise and cyan, crinkled with laughter. "You know your nose is still a pig's?"

"I – what?" stammered Teddy, blinking rapidly and pressing a finger to his nose. She was right. Blushing furiously, he concentrated again and felt it return to normal.

"Much better," said Victoire contentedly. She stretched out, wiggling her bare toes in the sand. "I do love it here."

"Me too," said Teddy, taking in the deep blue sky, the glorious water, the cool sea breeze … the beautiful girl.

The realisation hit him _smack _in the face. There it was, clear as glass – _why hadn't he seen it coming? _He liked Victoire – no, he more than liked her, he _liked_ her. As more than a friend. And why wouldn't he? What wizard wouldn't? What wizard didn't, he thought gloomily. Victoire was extremely popular at school, with the boys as well as the girls.

_But they don't know her like you do_, said a voice inside his head. _They only know _that _Victoire. You know the real one … that's the one you love … she's only herself around you …_

Was that true?

She's _fifteen_, he thought desperately. _Fifteen_. And I'm seventeen.

That wasn't that bad, though, was it? _Was _it?

But Victoire was like family …

And yet he'd known for a long time that he liked her, he realised now. When other people would talk about Victoire to him, he'd turn red … did everyone else know?

Did _she _know?

"Are you all right?"

Victoire's voice cut through his internal battle with himself like a Severing Charm.

"Er – yeah," said Teddy, trying not to sound as if he was completely and utterly head-over-heels in love with her. "Fine. Glad I'm here," he added, and then mentally kicked himself. _Don't be obvious!_

"Mmm," Victoire sighed happily. "I can't believe this is your last school holiday. Summer holiday, I mean." She turned to look at him, her expression suddenly anxious, eyes intense, boring into his soul … "You will come back here, won't you? After you've left school? When I'm here? You won't go all … _grown-up _on me?"

"Of course not," said Teddy at once, without having to think. "You won't be able to get rid of me that easily."

"Good," said Victoire, smiling once more. "You're the only person I'd want to share – all _this _with."

_Oh good grief._

_**Silly little thing that just popped into my head. I may do more on these two … if people like. Actually now I think about it I'd like to expand this into a multi-chapter thing ... but I really shouldn't take on **_**another _project when I've got so many others on ... should I?_**_**  
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